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Status and the Challenge of Rising Powers

The rise of China and other great powers raises important questions about the persistence and stability of the 'liberal international order'. This book provides a new perspective on these questions by offering a novel theory of revisionist challenges to international order. It argues that rising powers sometimes seem to face the condition of 'status immobility', which activates social psychological and domestic political forces that push them toward lashing out in protest against status quo rules, norms, and institutions. Ward shows that status immobility theory illuminates important but often-overlooked dynamics that contributed to the most significant revisionist challenges in modern history. The book highlights the importance of status in world politics, and further advances a new understanding of this important concept's role in foreign policy. This book will be of interest to researchers in international politics and security, especially those interested in great power politics, status, power transitions, revisionism, and order.Read more...

Abstract:

The rise of new powers raises important questions about the persistence and stability of the 'liberal international order'. This book provides a novel theory of revisionist challenges, arguing that rising powers sometimes feel that they face 'status immobility' which pushes them to lash out against the status quo.Read more...

Reviews

Editorial reviews

Publisher Synopsis

'This book is a worthy addition to the growing literature on how status concerns, especially combined with power transitions, shape international politics. By combining theory with historical case studies, Steven Ward contributes to our understanding of radical revisionism by showing how the psychological effects and domestic political repercussions of status immobility can lead to attempts by rising powers to overturn the existing international order. This study is a must-read for dealing with China and Russia today.' Deborah Welch Larson, University of California, Los Angeles 'In this auspicious intervention scholarship on the rise of great powers and the resilience of international orders, Steven Ward provides a novel and powerful way to think about the origins of radical revisionism in international politics - the sort of profound challenge that can end in devastating war. Status concerns figure importantly, but, crucially, Ward shows that the interaction between blocked status aspirations and domestic politics is the key to the puzzle of costly and potentially self-defeating behavior. Status and the Challenge of Rising Powers opens a new window on great global upheavals of the past - and on the question of how to avoid one in the near future.' William C. Wohlforth, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire `This book is a worthy addition to the growing literature on how status concerns, especially combined with power transitions, shape international politics. By combining theory with historical case studies, Steven Ward contributes to our understanding of radical revisionism by showing how the psychological effects and domestic political repercussions of status immobility can lead to attempts by rising powers to overturn the existing international order. This study is a must-read for dealing with China and Russia today.' Deborah Welch Larson, University of California, Los Angeles `In this auspicious intervention scholarship on the rise of great powers and the resilience of international orders, Steven Ward provides a novel and powerful way to think about the origins of radical revisionism in international politics - the sort of profound challenge that can end in devastating war. Status concerns figure importantly, but, crucially, Ward shows that the interaction between blocked status aspirations and domestic politics is the key to the puzzle of costly and potentially self-defeating behavior. Status and the Challenge of Rising Powers opens a new window on great global upheavals of the past - and on the question of how to avoid one in the near future.' William C. Wohlforth, Dartmouth College, New HampshireRead more...